Must Every Astroscan be Red?

Every Astroscan is red. It was Edmund Scientific’s theme color when they created the Astroscan in 1976. I like it, and many others do too.

But colors and designs express a lot to people. Henry Ford was *wrong* to force every Model T he built from 1914 to 1926 to be black. Not every Astroscan ought to be red.

I remember how folks used to decorate Volkswagen beetles. Who will extend that to Astroscans? The body is injection-molded from ABS, a very common and well-known co-polymer. Find paints that stick to that, and won’t have problems with the trivet’s felt pads.

Paint it white? Black? Blue? Green? Pink? Brown? Chrome? Brass?

A patriotic-American design could cover the sphere with a blue field with white stars, and the cylinder with white stripes alternating with the red. A patriotic-Canadian design could use white to outline the maple leaf. Dude up an Astroscan in Steampunk, and another in Art-Deco. What would artists and illustrators and designers dream up?